Scribes' panel seeks judicial probe

A group of senior TV journalists on Wednesday urged Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to order a judicial probe into the violence against journalists in the Patiala Courts here by lawyers and others while covering the proceedings against JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar.

Under the aegis of the Broadcast Editors' Association, they demanded that exemplary steps against the culprits so that such incidents do not occur in future.

The journalists who met the minister included Barkha Dutt, Sonia Singh, N K Singh, Shazi Zaman, Dibang, Vinay Tewari, Q W Naqvi, Navika Kumar, Deepak Chaurasia, Satish K Singh, Supriya Prasad and Sanjay Bragta. 

In a memorandum submitted to the minister, the BEA said, the manhandling of journalists is a "matter of serious concern". 

“Despite identifying themselves, they were subjected to physical assault by a group of people in black coats supported by some unknown persons. It carries ominous signs as it is not only a pre-meditated assault on journalists but also on roots of democracy,” it said.

“You will agree with us that democratic institutions cannot remain oblivious of this incident which is a wanton attempt at crushing the freedom of expression guaranteed by our Constitution,” it said.